Indiana Twisters
Founded-Operated	1996 (Founded) 1996 - 1997
Arena	Market Square Arena Market Square Arena Market Square Arena was an indoor arena, located in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Completed in 1974, at a cost of $23 million, it seated 16,530, for basketball and 15,993, for ice hockey.-History:...
Based in	Indianapolis Indianapolis Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S... , Indiana Indiana Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
Colors	red, black, silver (1996)/purple, green, white (1997)
League	CISL Continental Indoor Soccer League The Continental Indoor Soccer League was an indoor soccer league that played from 1993 to 1997.-History:When the Major Soccer League folded in the summer of 1992, two of its former teams joined a group of hockey and basketball arena owners led by Ron Weinstein who wanted to create a league to...

The Indiana (née Indianapolis) Twisters were a professional indoor soccer team that played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League

Continental Indoor Soccer League

The Continental Indoor Soccer League was an indoor soccer league that played from 1993 to 1997.-History:When the Major Soccer League folded in the summer of 1992, two of its former teams joined a group of hockey and basketball arena owners led by Ron Weinstein who wanted to create a league to...

 in 1996 and 1997.

Announced as a CISL expansion team on February 22, 1996, the team received its nickname after a "Name the Team" contest that drew more than 250 entries. The name "Tornados" was the winning entry, but team owners Executive Sports Management, Inc. altered that a bit to capitalize on the release that summer of the motion picture Twister. The Indianapolis Twisters made their debut in an 8–2 loss to the Detroit Neon in Auburn Hills, Michigan on June 14, 1996.

While the Twisters suffered several hard-luck losses through their first half of their inaugural season, things were really tumultuous behind the scenes. After a home-opener crowd of 5,109 on June 21 against the Washington Warthogs (a 7–6 overtime loss), the crowds at Market Square Arena

Market Square Arena

Market Square Arena was an indoor arena, located in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Completed in 1974, at a cost of $23 million, it seated 16,530, for basketball and 15,993, for ice hockey.-History:...

 dwindled to 2,563 by a July 27 game against the Portland Pride

Portland Pride

The Portland Pride are a defunct indoor soccer team that played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League from 1993 to 1997.-History:In 1993, a new league, the Continental Indoor Soccer League began its first season. Traditionally, indoor soccer has been a winter sport, but the CISL decided to...

 and 2,125 who witnessed a 12–10 loss to the Anaheim Splash

Anaheim Splash

The Anaheim Splash was a U.S. indoor soccer team that played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League . It was founded in 1992 as the Los Angeles United, but was sold after the season. The new ownership moved the team to Anaheim, California and renamed it the Anaheim Splash...

 on August 14.

By that point, the league had already made efforts to intercede and take over the franchise. On August 7, 1996, league commissioner Ron Weinstein and Roy Turner, a former indoor soccer general manager working with the league, met with Twisters' ownership to outline what the Indianapolis Star described as "the league's intent to control the franchise until new ownership is found."

The league wound up operating the team for its final six games as David and Rodney Goins, brothers who had headed up the ownership group, suspended operations on September 1, 1996 following an 8–5 win over the Houston Hotshots

Houston Hotshots

The Houston Hotshots were a professional indoor soccer team in Houston, Texas. They played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League from 1994 to 1997, and moved to the World Indoor Soccer League in 1999 after the CISL folded...

 attended by an announced 2,856 fans. The team went 2–4 as "wards of the league", and was not eliminated from the playoff hunt until a 7–4 loss to Monterrey La Raza on September 20, 1996 in front of a club-record crowd of 9,315 (many enticed by $5 general-admission tickets).

On September 27, 1996, Indianapolis trucking company owners Dan and Carl Cook became the team's new owners and announced plans to change its name to the Indiana Twisters for its second season in the league. Two days later, the Twisters finished their first season with an 8-7 win in Monterrey to finish with a 10-18 record.

Besides the new name, the team acquired new colors (green and purple to replace black, red and silver) for its 1997 season and showed what a difference a year could make by winning its season opener 9-2 at Detroit, 364 days after its inaugural game.

While the team struggled out of the starting blocks in 1997 (winning just two of its first seven games), it caught fire in mid-July, winning 13 of its next 16 outings. The Twisters officially clinched a playoff spot with a 15-7 win at home to the Sacramento Knights

Sacramento Knights

Sacramento Knights were an indoor soccer team that played from 1993 to 2001 in ARCO Arena and were owned by the NBA's Sacramento Kings. The team played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League from 1993 to 1997. The team then moved to the World Indoor Soccer League in 1998 after the CISL folded...

 on September 7, 1997.

Finishing 17-11, the Twisters finished second by virtue of a tiebreaker with the Houston Hotshots

Houston Hotshots

The Houston Hotshots were a professional indoor soccer team in Houston, Texas. They played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League from 1994 to 1997, and moved to the World Indoor Soccer League in 1999 after the CISL folded...

, but was forced to give up home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs with Houston because Market Square Arena

Market Square Arena

Market Square Arena was an indoor arena, located in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Completed in 1974, at a cost of $23 million, it seated 16,530, for basketball and 15,993, for ice hockey.-History:...

 was booked for an International Hockey League game on Saturday, October 4, 1997. Indiana hosted Game One of the best-of-two-with-minigame series on Friday, October 3 and, surprisingly (as they had won 10 of their last 11 at home and gone 11-3 at MSA during the regular season) lost 6–4 in a game nationally televised on Prime Network

Prime Network

The Prime Network was a group of regional sports networks owned by Liberty Media that served several regionalized areas that was in operation between 1983 and late-1997. While Liberty owned many of these stations, some were affiliates and owned by other companies...

.

Forced to win twice in a place they'd never won before, the Twisters managed to force a third and decisive "minigame" by scoring four fourth-quarter goals and taking Game Two, 7–4, on Sunday evening, October 5, 1997. Having spent most of their energy and having lost team captain and leading scorer Mariano Bollella to a knee injury late in the second game spelled doom for the Twisters in the fifteen-minute tiebreaker as they fell 4–1. Matt Blackbourne scored the final goal in team history.

When the league collapsed at Christmas 1997, the Twisters were left in limbo. What was left of its assets were purchased in the winter of 1998 by MorSports, Inc., owners of the city's A-League outdoor soccer franchise, the Indiana Blast

Indiana Blast

Indiana Blast were an American soccer team, founded in 1997. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues, and played in the D-3 Pro League, the A-League and the USL Premier Development League, until folding at the end of the 2004 season....

. MorSports intended to enter the club in the National Professional Soccer League, and, in fact, held a press conference announcing those intentions on February 18, 1998. The plans never came to fruition, however, and the Twisters never played again.

Year-by-year

Year	League	Reg. Season	GF	GA	Pct	Finish	Playoffs	Owner(s)	Avg. Attendance
1996	CISL	10-18	160	188	.357	6th East	Did Not Qualify	David Goins, Rodney Goins	3,311
1997	CISL	17-11	194	177	.607	2nd East	Lost Quarterfinal	Dan Cook, Kim Cook, Carl Cook	3,212